People on incapacity benefit are to be targeted in a government drive to get more claimants back to work.

"Just because people are on incapacity benefit it doesn't mean they can't work," work and pensions secretary Andrew Smith has said.

Smith signalled to backbenchers that some of the fears raised by disability groups would not be followed up by the government. Severely disabled people will not have to attend interviews.

Forum Response: Guide Dogs for the Blind

Robin Hutchinson, head of communications at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, told ePolitix.com: "Disabled people have always suffered disproportionately high unemployment levels, so we welcome the much-needed investment of £100 million in getting disabled people into work.

"However, the initiative needs to emphasise not just the role of people seeking work, but also that of employers, who must ensure that the work they offer is accessible.

"Government support for employers, to raise awareness of the needs - and potential - of disabled people should be seen as the other side of the coin."

Forum Response: Shaw Trust

Ian Charlesworth, managing director of the Shaw Trust, said: "We can largely accept the analysis of the current situation offered within this paper. We are pleased, for example, that there is recognition that large numbers of people currently in receipt of Incapacity Benefits would like the opportunity to work.

"We are also pleased at the candid acknowledgement that part of the problem has been the type of government and health care intervention that has treated these people as being at the end of their working lives.

"However, whilst Shaw Trust agrees with the Department of Works and Pensions about why they need to do more, we are terribly disappointed that the solutions proposed within this green paper demonstrate no real learning from programmes such as the New Deal for Disabled People personal adviser and job broking services.

"Having recognised that government and healthcare professionals have been a large part of the problem, the paper then suggests that a modern day version of the government run 1990s placement assessment and counselling teams and the even older rehabilitation centres will somehow, dressed in 21st century clothes, become the answer.

"If the government really wants to make a difference to the lives of disabled people who want to work, it should free up its partners in the charitable and not-for-profit sector who know what their customers want, to get on with what they do best - which is helping people find and keep work."

Forum Response: Disability Rights Commission

Bert Massie, chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, said: "We haven't yet seen a full copy of the proposals, and as is often the case, the devil may be in the detail.

"We welcome anything which will help the one million disabled people who say they want to work. We need a flexible system which recognises individual circumstances.

"However, disabled people need reassurance about government's continuing commitment to support those eligible for incapacity benefit and unable to find suitable work."